If you don’t understand the title of this particular post, then you obviously haven’t lived.
There are some days when you are just ridiculously happy to be alive. This was one of them. After returning from Switzerland, still on a little Swiss high, we slept in our Florence apartments and woke up this morning to make a day trip to Venice for Carnival.
Oh. My. God.
I cannot even explain in words how amazing it was. Venice has always been my favorite city, and I’ve always been slightly obsessed with its culture, the masks, the opulence, all of it. Experiencing Carnival brought this to a new level. It was so real, so genuine, so amazing, so pure and unadulterated by time.
The anonymity of the masks created a weird atmosphere, where you kind of lost language barriers and forgot that you didn’t know everyone. Literally everyone was taking pictures of everyone and everything as if we were in some twilight zone in between reality and a movie set. Everything was fair game. Since you couldn’t see differences and it felt like everyone was just playing a part, you didn’t feel different or like strangers. It was very surreal and weird to write without sounding like a hippie freak.
We took a 12:25 train to Venice, and then a 40 minute water bus to San Marco square. The whole time we were questioning if it would really be Carnival-like even though it was a Monday. Everything just seemed so normal. Until we got off at San Marco and it was like a scene from a movie. Everyone was dressed up in elaborate Venetian garb and they would just stand or walk and pose as people took pictures of them. I fit right in! It was like being in a living museum or one of those interactive exhibits. You never know who’s the actor and who’s the spectator.
feed the birds, tuppence a bag
We fed pigeons, which is always a favorite activity of mine. They just fly and walk all over you! I loved it. We befriended this family that had a little daughter who was feeding them bird seeds. They kept putting the seeds on her head so the birds would land there, and it was so precious. It started out kind of me and Steph feeding the birds with her, and then everyone started crowding around and taking pictures of her because it was just the cutest thing ever. See, in the normal world it would be weird to take pictures of other people’s kids feeding pigeons. In Carnivale world (and my creeper world) it is perfectly fine.
It was cold and our toes were numb, but it was so hard to care when the energy was so magical. There was a parade at one point where everyone was wearing red and gold light up costumes, and then they all crowded in one area by San Marco Basilica and people surrounded them and took pictures (to the right). It did not feel like real life, it was breathtaking. I felt like I was at the front line of a red carpet, except it was just regular people, celebrating.
We ate donuts, and hot chocolate, and all types of candy and candied fruit from the square where they had live music, a wine fountain, and costume competitions and shows. One of my favorite aspects, however, was taking pictures of people wearing masks and costumes and watching children take it all in. It was like being in a fairy tale. That sounds so creepy.
I will be returning to Carnival in Venezia at some point in my life. It was too wonderful for this to be my only exposure to it. It reaffirmed my love of the culture. Here are some pics:
P.S. I was in Venice on what was essentially the one year anniversary of the opening of this show. Don’t think I didn’t go around singing it. It really helps to listen to the music and look at my pictures simultaneously, I think.
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